PADRES: Hairston Jr. lifts Padres in 13th

SAN DIEGO -- Jerry Hairston Jr. found a good outlet for some of
his offensive frustrations.

Hitting a less-than-satisfying .228, Hairston blasted a two-out
walkoff home run in the bottom of the 13th inning Wednesday night
to lift the Padres to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at
Petco Park.

It was the second straight night in which Hairston homered to
give the Padres a one-run victory over the Cardinals. His
second-inning home run on Tuesday was the only run of the Padres'
1-0 victory.

On Wednesday, Hairston hit the first pitch he saw from reliever
Mitchell Boggs over the fence in left-center for the victory.

"This stadium is so hard to hit a home run, especially at
night," Hairston said. "It holds these balls in. Everyone knows
this park is really tough, but that's why we keep fighting and
clawing.

"It was a long game. I'm glad it's over."

That made a winner of reliever Edward Mujica (2-0), who capped a
strong showing by the Padres' bullpen with two shutout innings.

Ryan Webb got out of a huge jam in the 11th inning with perhaps
one of the more unorthodox double plays in Padres' history. After
consecutive singles to start the inning put runners on the corners,
manager Bud Black had the Padres draw in the infield. Skip
Schumacher hit a ground ball directly at David Eckstein, who fired
home immediately.

Colby Rasmus retreated toward third base but was tagged out by
catcher Yorvit Torrealba, who then flipped the ball to third base
in time to cut down Yadier Molina, who was attempting to go from
first to third on the fielder's choice.

"We were fortunate enough to get Rasmus out quick enough to get
the shovel pass to (shortstop Hairston) for the second out," Padres
manager Bud Black said.

But the Padres -- who blew a 1-0 lead when closer Heath Bell
couldn't hold the lead in the ninth inning -- couldn't score the
winning run from third in the bottom of the 11th as pinch-hitter
Nick Hundley grounded out to end the frame.

The Padres appeared well on their way to a second straight 1-0
victory when pinch-hitter Matt Stairs hit an opposite-field RBI
double in the bottom of the eighth inning to put his team
ahead.

But rookie center fielder Luis Durango misplayed pinch-hitter
Schumacher's two-out liner to left-center in the top of the ninth
inning into a double. Ryan Ludwick followed with an RBI single up
the middle to tie the game and give Bell his third blown save of
the season.

Both teams struggled against the other's starting pitcher. St.
Louis rookie left-hander Jaime Garcia kept the Padres off balance
with a nasty mix of off-speed pitches over six shutout innings.

Despite not having nearly his best command, Kevin Correia
continued a hot streak for Padres starting pitchers. With his
defense providing four great plays and another caught stealing by
Yorvit Torrealba, Correia scratched and clawed his way through six
stressful, scoreless innings.

In their last four games, Padres starting pitchers have limited
the opposition to two earned runs in 26 innings (0.69 ERA). While
they haven't been that hot all season, Padres starters own a
combined 21-13 record with a 2.88 ERA and have averaged 5.9
innings.

But Correia needed an outfield assist from Durango at home plate
to end a first-inning jam and a heads up play by Adrian Gonzalez to
end one in the fourth. After Yadier Molina reached with a two-out
infield single, Gonzalez fired to second base behind Rasmus, who
made too wide a turn.

Correia also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning with
a strikeout even after he fell behind Matt Holliday 3-0 in the
count.

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